A Nettle in the Shadows Book 1: A Rogue's Story

by Impish Empress

Cici's mother warned her that the forest cats are dangerous. But with hunger gnawing at their bellies and BloodClan after them, Cici, her brother Mowgli, and best friend Snag decide to follow Tigerclaw. As they're drawn ever deeper into his schemes, the three young rogues must decide whether to fight the evil overshadowing every cat in the forest and town... or become part of it.

1. Author's Note, Allegiances, and Prologue

Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC's. The Warriors world and characters belong to Erin Hunter, who last time I checked, is not one of my multiple personalities.

Author's Note: This story is what happens when someone who studies creative writing in college spends part of her summer getting high and rereading all her old Warriors books. I started wondering what life was like in ShadowClan under Tigerstar's rule, and resenting the fact that (A) all of the rogue characters are blobs of evil with no personality and (B) there are no well-developed female characters associated with the villains. I wrote down some ideas for a character late one night, and within a few weeks, I had a full draft of a story. I figured I would resurrect this old account and post a few chapters just for kicks. Most major events and some dialogue are taken directly from the last three books of the first series and the novella Tigerclaw's Fury, though I've obviously moved some things around and made minor changes for plot reasons. Hope y'all enjoy!

Allegiances

SHADOWCLAN

Leader: Nightstar: black tom

Deputy: Cinderfur: thin gray tom

Medicine Cat: Runningnose: small gray-and-white tom

Apprentice: Littlecloud: very small tabby tom

WARRIORS

Fernshade: tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes

Flintfang: dark gray tom

Deerfoot: dark brown tabby tom

Wetfoot: dark gray tom

Apprentice: Oakpaw: small brown tom

Dawncloud: pale ginger she-cat

Frogtail: mottled brown tom

Wolfstep: big gray-and-black tom

Ratscar: light brown tom with a huge scar

Tallpoppy: long-legged tabby she-cat

Apprentice: Darkpaw: black she-cat

Boulder: skinny silver-gray tom, formerly of BloodClan

Russetfur: dark ginger she-cat, formerly of BloodClan

QUEENS

Newtspeck: spotted golden she-cat; mother to Rowankit (dark ginger tom) and Cedarkit (gray tom); foster mother to Lightningkit (ginger she-kit with white paws, OC)

ELDERS

Ashheart: dark gray she-cat

Blizardwing: mottled white tom

THUNDERCLAN

Leader: Bluestar: blue-gray she-cat with silver around her muzzle

Deputy: Tigerclaw: huge dark brown tabby tom with unusually long claws

Medicine Cat: Yellowfang: gray she-cat with a flat face, formerly of ShadowClan

Apprentice: Cinderpelt: gray she-cat with blue eyes

WARRIORS

Fireheart: bright ginger tom with green eyes

Apprentice: Cloudpaw: fluffy white tom

Whitestorm: older white tom

Apprentice: Brightpaw: ginger-and-white she-cat

Sandstorm: pale ginger she-cat

Graystripe: long-furred gray tom

Apprentice: Brackenpaw: golden-brown tom

Darkstripe: sleek black-and-gray tom

Longtail: pale tabby tom with black stripes

Apprentice: Swiftpaw: pale brown tabby tom

Runningwind: tabby tom

Dustpelt: brown tom

Mousefur: small brown she-cat

Apprentice: Thornpaw: golden-brown tabby tom

Willowpelt: pale gray she-cat with blue eyes

QUEENS

Goldenflower: pale ginger she-cat; mother to Bramblekit (dark brown tabby tom) and Tawnykit (tortoiseshell she-kit)

Brindleface: tabby she-cat

Speckletail: speckled she-cat

PRISONERS

Brokentail: blind dark brown tabby with a bent tail and a flat face, formerly the leader of ShadowClan

RIVERCLAN

Leader: Leopardstar: spotted golden she-cat

Deputy: Stonefur: blue-gray tom

Apprentice: Stormpaw: gray tom

Medicine Cat: Mudfur: long-furred brown tom

WARRIORS

Blackclaw: black tom with stripes

Mistyfoot: blue-gray she-cat with blue eyes

Apprentice: Featherpaw: silver-gray she-cat

Shadepelt: dark gray she-cat

Apprentice: Primrosepaw

Mosspelt: mottled brown she-cat

WINDCLAN

Leader: Tallstar: old black-and-white tom

Deputy: Deadfoot: black tom with a twisted paw

There aren't any other WindClan cats in this story. Sorry, WindClan fans.

BLOODCLAN

Leader: Scourge: small black tom with blue eyes

Deputy: Bone: large black-and-white tom

FIGHTERS

Snipe: black she-cat with green eyes

Gordon: black-and-white tom (OC)

Snake: pale gray tom

Ice: pale gray tom

Emerald: white she-cat with green eyes (OC)

Claw: big black-and-white tom with a curved scar across his forehead (OC)

Brick: ginger she-cat

Screech: battle-scarred old tabby tom (OC)

CATS OUTSIDE CLANS

Barley: black-and-white tom who lives in the barn beyond WindClan territory, formerly of BloodClan

Ravenpaw: black tom who lives in the barn beyond WindClan territory, formerly of ThunderClan

Blackfoot: big white tom with black paws, formerly of ShadowClan

Stumpytail: brown tom with a short tail, formerly of ShadowClan

Tangleburr: brown-and-gray she-cat, formerly of ShadowClan

Jerry: gray-and-white tabby tom (OC)

Snag: ginger tabby tom with amber eyes

Mowgli: dark brown tom with green eyes, formerly of BloodClan

Cici: small brindled she-cat with brown-and-white fur and amber eyes, formerly of BloodClan (OC)

Cora: pale gray tabby she-cat, formerly of BloodClan (OC)

Scorch: ginger-and-white tom, formerly of BloodClan (OC)

Risk: black she-cat with green eyes, formerly of BloodClan (OC)

Chance: black she-cat with a missing eye (OC)

Sasha: tawny she-cat with blue eyes

Lucky: small black-and-white tom (OC)

Prologue.

"Firestar! Firestar! Firestar!" The cats of StarClan chanted the new ThunderClan leader's name after granting him his nine lives. The ginger tom felt warm pride swell in his chest, choked off by anxiety. Was he really ready to follow in Bluestar's pawsteps? Would his clan survive Tigerstar's next scheme? His last one had come within a whisker of destroying ThunderClan.

Suddenly, the chanting cut off, like a cat's last cry after having its throat slit. A panicked hiss from Bluestar made Firestar spin around. A massive hill of bones, nearly the height of a cat, loomed out of the darkness, glowing with an eerie crimson light. Firestar went cold all over when he realized that some of the bones belonged to cats. The stench of crowfood almost made him gag. Blood began to ooze from the pile of bones, soaking into the ground.

"Something terrible is coming, Firestar," Bluestar said, pressing her pelt against his. He couldn't see her in the blackness, but her familiar scent and voice steadied him.

"What can you see?" Firestar asked.

"Four will become two. And blood will rule the forest, unless the lost daughter of the pines returns," Bluestar proclaimed, her voice fading on the last word.

"Wait!" Firestar cried desperately. "Tell me what you mean!"

But Bluestar had vanished, along with the rest of StarClan. Firestar expected to wake up beside the glowing Moonstone, but instead, the world lurched, the ground sliding out from under his paws. Everything went white for a moment, and his ears filled with the whoosh of a strong wind.

Firestar opened his eyes and found himself surrounded by green. The plants were unnaturally bright and had the faint smell of twolegs. He got to his paws and peered at the big stone den off in the distance. One glance was enough to tell him this wasn't the place where he'd spent the first carefree moons of his kithood, before he had a mortal enemy or a clan to lead. But how had he gotten here? And how would he get out?

Fear made his ginger fur prickle as he headed away from the twoleg den. He hoped to StarClan he'd see, hear, or smell something familiar soon. He opened his mouth to call for Bluestar, but then he caught a glimpse of a brindled pelt under a bush. Firestar tensed as the unknown cat emerged into the sunlight. Half of her left ear was missing, and an angry, red wound on her side dripped a yellowish pus. There were no stars in this cat's brown-and-white fur. Instead, she seemed to be made of smoke. As she padded toward Firestar, her form flickered in and out. He had a feeling that if he tried to touch her, his paw would go right through her.

"Who are you?" the ThunderClan leader asked. "You're not from StarClan."

The insubstantial she-cat's amber eyes glittered with wry humor. "Not all cats go to StarClan, you know. There are other places, other worlds for cats who don't belong to your precious clans. My name is Nala. I'm what you call a rogue."

Firestar's hackles rose. How was a dead rogue walking in his dreams?

"It ain't no easy thing for me to bring you here," Nala meowed, guessing the direction of his thoughts. "But I'm doing this for my kits. I will drain my spirit to nothing if that's what it takes to save them." Firestar could believe it. She looked as fierce and desperate as any clanborn mother fighting for her kits.

"But how can I help kits who aren't even in my clan?" Firestar asked.

Nala's form grew even dimmer as she rasped, "Your ancestors tell you that fire will save your clan. But I've seen further, down different paths. Without the nettle's sting, the fire will go out before it has a chance to burn."

Firestar shivered. "The nettle's sting?" he echoed. What could that mean? There was no warrior with "nettle" in their name in ThunderClan, or in any of the other clans, from what he could remember.

"If you don't want blood to rule your forest, you gotta look for help in your enemy's camp."

"But that makes no sense! Why would my enemies help me?" Firestar asked.

But Nala had already disappeared, her last words coming to him as a faint breeze that tickled his ear fur. "You must save my daughter, no matter the choices she's made," the dead rogue whispered.

"Who is your daughter? How will I know how to help her?" Firestar called. Nala must be talking about the "lost daughter of the pines" from Bluestar's prophecy. But the ghostly she-cat was gone, as unreachable as StarClan.